Puzzle game



Jan. 22, 1957 c. 0. BROWN 2,778,639

PUZZLE GAME Filed July 2'7. 1.955

IN VEN TOR.

call/71, Brown B C! MW PUZZLEGAME 6 Claims. (or. 273-130),

This invention pertains to games suitable for children as well as adults for both amusement and. educational purposes. H The primary object of theinvention; istojprovidefa simple and inexpensive game apparatus, iricl' jzlin'g game board and playing pieces, offering opportunities for the development and exercise of the imagination and reasoning powers of the individual as well as affording an interesting and amusing recreation. 1

The essentials of the game are a board or the like having a predetermined number of playing piece receiving stations arrayed in some predetermined pattern thereon and a home station for the playing pieces from which the playing pieces are played in an orderly and pre-chosen manner to the receiving stations, and a plurality of playing pieces in two or more groups which may bedifferentiated, as between groups, by distinctivemarkings such as by color. The embodiment chosen for disclosure herein is an exemplification of a preferred type of board and preferred game pieces or playing pieces. Itis also an example of one simple arrangement of playing field or home and receiving stations for the game or playing pieces. However, as will be appreciated, the essentials of the game do not require the type of board or playing pieces shown herein and the variations in arrangernents and in methods or schemes of play are almost infinite. The game disclosed and claimed herein is the same as that disclosed in my abandoned application Ser. No. 294,648, filed June 20, 1952.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 represents an isometric view of a playing board with playing pieces of two colors arrayed in a selected pattern in receiving stations;

Fig. 2 is a veiw of the playing board of Fig. l with the playing pieces arranged in a predetermined order at their home stations or initial positions for playing in a particular rote or according to a prescribed rule to the receiving stations to efiectuate the pattern of playing pieces shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

The playing board 4 of the drawing figures may be a simple rectangular block of wood, metal, or other material including suitable compositions. Its upper or playing surface is provided with two longitudinally extending parallel rows, A and B, of concave depressions 5 which, in the instant embodiment, have spherically concave bottoms adapted to receive and to position spherically shaped playing pieces 6. and 7. The depressions 5 are equidistantly spaced from one another in each of the parallel rows A and B, those of row B being staggered to positions half way between those of row A, and constitute the receiving stations or positions for the playing pieces 6 and 7. Preferably extending lengthwise of block 4, parallel to rows of depressions A and B, is a gutter, trough or home station channel 8 the bottomof which may be curved transversely of its length on substantially the same radius as the radius of curvature of the bottoms U ed 2,778,639 I l 'atented Jan. 22, I957 2 of depressions 5 and that of the spherical playing pieces 6 and 7. Thevertical depth of each of the depressions 5 and that of the trough or channel 8 preferably is somewhat less than a'radius of a spherical playing piece. Colored marbles may serve for playing pieces.

In the drawing illustration there are fifteen playing pieces of which eight are represented to be of one color, white, for example, and seven are represented to be of another color or black, for example, arranged in alternation in each of rows A and B butstarting with a white playing piece 6 at the left end of each row. Thus disposed the playing pieces create a definite pattern as will be apparent. Now, in one type of game that may be played with this game device, the object may be to place the playing pieces in the trough or home station row 8 (after removing them from the receiving stations provided by the depressions 5 in such order and number combinations, as between black and white, that, by playing the playing pieces in order and succession from one end of the row or channel 8, alternately to the other end of the trough and to the depressions 5, beginning w-ith one end of one row such as the left hand end of row A and continuing to the end thereof and then repeating for row B beginning with the left hand end thereof, all of the playing pieces finally will be located in the depressions 5 of rows A and B in the desired order or pattern originally planned i. e. that illustrated in Fig. 1.

If for example, the playing pieces are to be established in thereceiving station pattern shown in Fig. 1 and the rules of the game require that the plays must be made from the right hand end of trough or home station channel 8, that the first playing piece must be returned to the left hand end of that trough, that the succeeding playing piece from the trough must be placed in the first depression at the left hand end of row A, that the following playing piece goes back to the trough at the left hand end thereof, and that the plays be so continued alternately to the trough and row A until row A is filled and then, correspondingly, to the trough and row B beginning again at the left hand end of. that row, then the only pattern or combination arrangement of playing pieces in the trough or channel 8 which will give the pattern of Fig. 1, following such rules, is the pattern or combination shown in Fig. 2. In other words, the solution requires that the white and black playing pieces be initially disposed in trough or channel 8 in this order, reading from left to right in Fig. 2, three white, one black, two white, three black, two white, two black, one white, one black. If desired the order formula here given and illustrated in Fig. 2 could be reversed and the playing started from the left hand end of the trough alternately to the right hand end of the trough and row A and then to the trough and row B for the same result. In this event each of rows A and B will have a white playing piece at its right hand end followed by a black playing piece and so continuing to establish a pattern reversed, end for end, for that of Fig. 1.

The variations and permutations possible by varying the rules, by increasing or decreasing the number of playing pieces and the number of playing piece receiving positions, by different arrangements of the receiving positions or stations, by utilizing playing pieces of three or more colors instead of two colors, and by other means, are almost infinite. As another example, utilizing the fifteen playing pieces, as above, the game may be played to obtain the same final pattern as that of Fig. l, by varying one rule, namely, by returning two playing pieces to the trough at its left end and placing the third in the first depression to the left in row A, the fourth and fifth back in the trough and the sixth in the second depression of row A, and so forth. In such case the initial arrangement or combination in the row of trough or channel 3 will be, reading from left to the right, one White, five black, three White, one black, one white, one black, three white. If four playing pieces are returned to the trough and the fifth to the row A and the game played through as before the pattern of Fig. 1 will be reproduced if the arrangement or combination in the trough, again reading from left to right, is two White, one black, two white, two black, one white, two black, one white, two black, two white.

Employing eighteen playing pieces in three color groups such as seven white, six red and five black and a board having eighteen receiving stations in three parallel rows of seven, six and five depressions, respectively, and employing the same rules as given for the example first stated above and a trough combination of (reading left to right) one red, two black, two white, three red, one black, two white, one black, one red, one white, one black, two white, one red, will result in the following pattern of playing pieces in receiving stations:

WBRWBRW BRW'BRW RWBRW Many other variants and combinations for particular patterns employing as many as thirty five playing pieces have been worked out and there seems to be no limit. Of course, if desired, the game may be played in reverse, i. e. from the playing stations 5 to the trough or channel 8.

While I have illustrated and described a simple preferred embodiment of the invention playing board and playing pieces and several examples of play to obtain particular patterns using different starting combinations and rules by which to produce the same or different patterns, so doing is not intended by way of limitation on the invention.

1 claim:

1. A puzzle game including a board having a plurality of rows of playing piece receiving stations indicated thereon, the stations of each row being arranged in a predetermined definite pattern, the pattern of each row bearing a definite pattern relationship to the pattern of each other row, a playing piece home station row adjacent to the receiving station rows, said home station row including means for receiving and retaining the playing pieces of a set in a selected sequence, and a set of playing pieces in number equal to the total number of receiving sta' tions of all of the receiving station rows, the playing pieces being differentiated into at least two distinct groups with a plurality of playing pieces in each group.

2. A puzzle game including a plurality of playing pieces and a playing board wherein, the playing pieces are composed of a plurality of differentiated groups with a plurality of similar playing pieces in at least one of the groups, the board having a plurality of row of playing piece receiving stations arrayed in a predetermined pattern and including means for retaining the pieces in position in the pattern, the board also having playing piece home station channel means adjacent to the said rows, said home station channel means including means for receiving and retaining the playing pieces of a set in a selected sequence, the capacity of the home station channel means being at least sufficient to receive the total number of playing pieces and also at least equal to the total number of playing piece receiving stations in the first said rows.

3. A puzzle game including a plurality of playing pieces and a playing board wherein, the playing pieces are composed of a plurality of difierentially marked groups with a plurality of similarly marked playing pieces in each of the groups, the board having a plurality of rows of playing piece receiving stations arrayed in a predetermined pattern and including means for releasably retaining the playing pieces, the board also having a playing piece home station row for reception of playing pieces arrayed in single file adjacent to the first said rows, said home station row including means for receiving and retaining the playing pieces of a set in a selected sequence, the capacity of the home station row being at least equal to the total number of playing pieces and also at least equal to the total number of playing piece receiving stations in the first said rows.

4. A puzzle game including a plurality of similarly shaped playing pieces in a plurality of groups with a plurality of playing pieces in each group, the playing pieces of each group being differentiated from all playing pieces of every other group by visible color marking, the markings of playing pieces within a single group being related in color, and a playing board having a plurality of playing piece receiving stations arrayed for the reception and releasable retention of playing pieces in single file in each of a plurality of parallel rows, the total receiving stations being at least equal in number to the number of playing pieces of all groups, said playing piece receiving stations being arranged in a predetermined pattern, said board also having playing piece home stations for single file reception of the playing pieces and of a capacity at least equal to the number of playing pieces of all groups, said home station row including means for receiving and retaining the playing pieces of all groups in a predetermined sequence within and as between groups.

5. A puzzle game board for games of the character described comprising a generally rectangular block of material such as wood having a playing surface, said surface having a plurality of unconnected circular depressions therein, the depressions being spaced apart and arranged in a predetermined pattern, said block also carrying an elongated trough of a length to receive independent playing pieces in number equal to the number of said depressions, said trough being spaced from all of said depressions and unconnected with any of them, and a plurality of spherical playing pieces in number equal to a predetermined plural number of said depressions, said trough being 'so formed as to provide a runway for rolling movements of the playing pieces from end to end thereof.

6. A puzzle game board for games of the character described comprising a generally rectangular block of material such as wood having a playing surface, said surface having a plurality of unconnected circular depressions therein, the depressions being arranged in a predetermined pattern, said surface also having an elongated trough of a length to receive independent playing pieces in number equal to a plural number of said depressions, said trough being spaced from all of said depressions and unconnected with any of them, and a plurality of spherical playing pieces in number equal to the number of said depressions, said trough being so formed as to provide a runway for rolling movements of the playing pieces from end to end thereof, said playing pieces being divided into at least two sets differentiated from one another.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 463,468 Truman Nov. 17, 1891 631,737 Compton Aug. 22, 1899 939,612 Mooney Nov. 9, 1909 1,206,334 Kohler Nov. 28, 1916 1,899,177 Bedell Feb. 28, 1933 2,292,219 Escuadra Aug. 4, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS 12,592 Great Britain 1889 

